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After the capture and destruction of the chief
town of the Trojans and the adventures of
the Greeks, everyone of these reached his own
native land and country. Then Ulixes, the son of
Laertes, also reached his land and country, and saw
the mountains of his native land before him. It
is a grievous thing to us what we shall find there—
viz., the beautiful, gentle queen whom we left there,
with another man before our face, and another king
over our territory, and our land in his possession,
and old age on our own form, though it is we by
right.Do not let this oppress thee, said his
men to Ulixes, for we shall all find the same evil.
Then a storm fell upon them, and they were again
driven out into the wet of the open sea, and were
thus astray for a year, until they came to a large
island.

And they found great big woolly sheep,
and killed three of them. And they put up their
tents over them, and placed their fires and prepared
their sheep. Three days and three nights they were
there. After that Ulixes spoke. It is time for us
to be starting, said he. It is not just what
thou sayest, said they, for here we have our
fill of food to the day of judgment, in what there
is here of sheep.This, he said, I shall
not do for your sake, to give up seeking to reach
our native land.What thou art seeking, said
they, is that we may all perish in thy track, as all
thy people were left before this.

Then they left
the island, and went again in their ships, and
were a year on the sea, until they reached another
island.

When they had gone on that island, they
found a mountain of gold in its midst. This is
a good find, said his men to Ulixes. How do
ye know that? said he. Did ye not get enough
treasures out of Troy? And they began to
gather in the gold until they saw the Cyclops
coming towards them.

And he did not ask
tidings of them, but as they were there, so he
went among them. Where there was a hero or a
battle-soldier he closed his arms around them,
and broke and minced their bones and their flesh.
Then after having killed a great number of them,
he lifted up nine of them between his two arms,
together with Ulixes, the son of Laertes. Now
when Ulixes, the cunning right clever man, perceived
that he was being carried off by force, he
escaped between the elbows of his men down to the
ground, and his men were carried away from him.

Then he went to the ships, and related those tidings
to the nine that were in the ships. And his people
said to him: Let us put plenty of treasures in
our vessels and proceed on our way.Not so
said he, until it is found out how my men are
taken from me; and it is sad and sore to me that
they are carried from me.Though it is
sad, said they, do not say so, for we deem it a
sufficient honour that thou art among us. Then
Ulixes went to seek the big man; and he came to
the door of the cave. There he saw the white-faced
sad countenance of his men in the cave looking
out at him. Comrades, said he, great is the
danger in which ye are.Thou art right, said
they, and thou thyself wilt be out of it.Not
so, said he; not before I and the giant have
met.What dost thou think? said they.
What means hast thou to use against him? Thy
spear is not so sharp nor thy arm so strong that
the point of thy spear could touch a bone in his
body.Can ye try to rise over him from behind?
said he. Alas! said they, there are three
paces of each man of us between his two nipples.How do ye know, said he, that the barbarous
nature that is in his body may not be a heaviness
which is easy to overcome when his body is asleep?
Rise over him from behind, said he, and raise
your breaths in the top of your breast to lighten
yourselves. They arose and went out over him,
and there were three paces of every man of them
between his two nipples as they stepped over him.
Now let us go, said they. Not so, said he,
not until I and the giant have met. He went up
to him, and into the one big eye that was in the
front part of his forehead he put the point of his
spear, between the two brows, and gave a thrust to
the spear in his eye. And he had a difficult task to
save himself from the broad and large loch of water
that burst from it. However, the mountain shook
and the cave resounded with the beating which the
huge gigantic man made with his feet and his arms,
as he sought for him who had done that outrage on
him. And thereupon they went into their ship.

It is related that a man of the people of Ulixes
went away, out of a hardy and idle mood, and this
was the man who met Aeneas, the son of Anchises,
when he was on his voyage of exile. Now Ulixes
was one year on the sea after leaving that island,
and nine of his men only reached land with him,
while the others found death through an unknown
malady. Then Ulixes went on shore, and shepherds,
with their flocks met him. Now that man was very
cunning, a clever right wise man, sharing in many
a tongue, for he was wont to learn the tongue of
every country to which he came, and to ask tidings
of them in the language that they used. And this
is what he learnt from them, that the Judge of
Right was lord in that country. What right is
it that serves him ? asked Ulixes. Every man
that gets instruction from him, he will reach his
native land at once, said they. Why, said
Ulixes, should not I get instruction from him? Thou hast not the means; said he who spoke
with him; for a single day's instruction is not
given without (a payment of) thirty ounces of gold
to him. And thou, said they, who art thou?One of the fugitives of the Trojans am I, said
he. And he went from them towards his ship.
And his men asked tidings from him.

And he
related to them as he had heard, and told them
to get instruction. But they said that they had no
desire to do so; for our hairs have fallen out,
and our eyes have grown dim, and our faces have
become black, and our teeth yellow, and we have
no great need to give away our gold or our possessions
for instruction that would be of no use
to us.Which is better for you, said he; to
leave it in the breaches of danger or at the gates of
death, or to spend it for an instruction which will
be profitable to you? Thereupon they went on their
way to the fortress, and the man of the place
met them on the meadow and asked tidings of
them. And they related to him every hardship
that they had encountered. And he asked them
what they had come for. We have come to learn
from thee.Ye will get it, provided ye have the
means for it.What at all are the means? said
they. I do not give a single day's instruction without
thirty ounces of red gold.We shall find that
for thee, said they. Then they were made welcome,
and a separate bed-chamber was given to them, and
meat and drink was taken into it for them, and all
was got ready for them to bathe and to wash. And
there they stayed that night.

Early on the morrow they arose and went
to the place where the Judge of Right was. They
weighed out thirty ounces of red gold to him, and
he taught them. And this was the instruction:
Though ye nine had but one father and one
mother amongst you, and though one man had
killed your father and your mother, yet do ye
resolve not to kill him before ye have held three
counsels with yourselves about it, and before it is
certain that ye all are of one mind for ever.
And though it come upon one man of you only,
nevertheless let him not do the deed until he has
three times kept his breath and held counsel with
his own mind. If that then is what his mind will
bring away from the counsel, then let him do the
deed.Say on, said they. No more for
to-day but this, said he. Then they went to their
house. That gold is thrown away, said his men
to Ulixes. They were there that night, and though
the attendance they had the first night was good,
it was better this night. They rose early on the
morrow, and went to the house of the precept.

Thirty ounces of gold were weighed out to him,
and this is what he said: As to the road ye
travel every day, do not follow a by path or short
cut, but follow the high road.Say on,
said they. No more teaching to-day but this,
said he. Then they went to their house. That
gold is lost, said his men to Ulixes. Who
knows but that ye will find its use? said Ulixes.
And though the attendance of the first two nights
was good, it was better the third night. They
arose early in the morrow, and went to the house of
precept. And thirty ounces of red gold were
weighed out, and this is what he said: Do ye see
the sun at this moment?We do, said they.
Let none of you leave his place or dwelling,
how great soever his impatience may be, until the
sun has reached the place where he is now.Say on, said they. No more teaching from
me this turn, but that, said he. And do not
leave to-morrow before I have talked to you, sald
he. They went to their house, and arose early the
next morning and went out on the meadow. And
the man met them and bade him farewell, and they
left their blessing with him. Take with thee,
said the Judge, this small box as a keepsake, and
if thou open it, thou shalt never again reach thy
native land.That is a small reward for us
after we have reached our country. And he gave
them guidance how to reach their country by land.

Thereupon they went on their way, and it is not
told here how long they were on the road. But
they reached a great march, and there was a
public hostelry in that march: into that they went,
like anybody else. Great numbers came from all
quarters into that house. Every one of them asked
the other, What direction are ye going tomorrow?We are going into the border
country, said they. However, the company that
was in that hostelry arose. They went out from
the house into the field. Howbeit, Ulixes said:
Ill from me have gone my thirty ounces of gold,
if I would not stay until the sun will rise to the
place that he told us. Then he sat himself down.
What is this? said his people to him. I shall
keep by my instruction, said Ulixes. This is
what thou art seeking, said they, that we all may
perish in thy track; as the men of the eighty ships
have perished that fell before Troy in thy track, so
likewise shall we perish in thy track.Do ye
intend to stay? said a man of the company.
Even so, said they. Are ye acquainted with
the border-land?We are not, said they. Do
ye not see the field and the road?We do,
said they. Make for those, said he, and if
ye get across, ye will reach your country safe.

Then that company went on their way, but Ulixes
with his men waited till the sun had risen to the
place that had been told them. Yonder, said
they, are the first of the company on the road,
and if we were there now, we should reach home
safely.It seems to me, said Ulixes, your
company is not yet round the field, nor will the
wish be with you on the other side.

And suddenly they beheld the earth bursting
open under the company, so that they saw not one
man of them alive. Do ye see that? said Ulixes.
We see it, said they. Good is the profit of our
thirty ounces of gold for you; and let us set out
now, said he, for They will have dispersed yonder
after the deed. Then they went their way on the
road until they reached the border-land, and came
into a great wilderness. And they did not follow
a path or road from the highway. Howbeit, two
of his men went out on a bypath, and at once
found their death. The seven, however, that
remained reached their native town, and came to
the bower where the Queen was. And they saw
her on a great throne upon the firm floor of the
house, and a youth, the fairest in shape of the heroes
of the world, at her shoulder. I told you so,
said Ulixes. We must needs brook it, said they.
Ye good men there before me, said the Queen,
whose name was Penelope, who at all are ye?Seafarers astray are we, said they. Go, said
she, into the guest-house. They were served
that night till they went to their bed.

Do ye
know what I should like to do? said Ulixes.
We know not, said they. I had a subterranean
cave of escape out of the town, and there is one
entrance to it in the town yonder, with a closing
door to it, and another entrance on the green
outside, and the weight of a flagstone upon it.
And what I want to do is to go through the outer door
along the cave to the other end, until I reach
their bed-chamber, and the place where they are
together on the pillow; there will I slay them both
with my sword.Evil is that counsel, said they.
But fitter it is for thee to go and seek the King
of the Greeks, and to lament unto him thy sorrows;
and just as thou didst go in his host, so let him go
in thine host to contest thy native country for thee.May the gods we worship never allow that!
said Ulixes. Then there was reproach and counter-reproach between his men and him.

It is thus we
have all fallen in thy track, said they. Then he
arose from them to get into the town beyond, and
he reached the bed-chamber, and heard the conversation of the two on the pillow. And he bared
his sword on the spot, and raised his arm. Ill
is the profit of my instruction for me, said he,
if I do not first control my nature till I have kept
my breath. Thrice he raised his arm in order to
strike with the edge of his sword at the neck of
the two. The third time that he raised his arm
and wanted to do the deed, then spoke the Queen:
Uch, uch, oh son, said she, thy father has
appeared to me over our heads, and stoutly he
was minded to strike off our heads, thinking that
thou wert my fair leman. I swear by the gods I
worship, said she, that I do not know guilt from
another man since he went away in the host of the
Greeks; and he left me pregnant at the time he
went, and thou wert born from that pregnancy.
And I never let the body of another man into one
bed with myself, but the blood of him and mine
own blood have still preserved his honour.

When Ulixes heard that speech his spirit rejoiced within
him. Thereupon she arose and wept swift showers
of tears, and he was listening to her until sleep fell
upon him, even till the end of the night came.
Then he arose and was greatly ashamed of that
sleep. He went out and lay down among his men
and told them what had happened. And he gave
thanks to the gods for it. On the morrow they
arose and went into the same house. Ye good
men, said the Queen, who at all are ye?Ulixes the son of Laertes am I, said he. Thou
art not the Ulixes that we knew, said she. It is
I in sooth, said he; and I shall tell thee my
tokens, said he. And then he went into her
sweet secrets and their talks together, and the
things she hid in her heart. Where is thy form,
and where are thy men, said she, if thou art
Ulixes ?They are gone to ruin, said he.

What are the last tokens thou leftst with me?
said she. A golden brooch, said he, and a
head of silver was on it; and thy brooch I took
with me when I went into the ship, and it was then
thou didst turn away from us, said Ulixes.
That is true, said she, and if thou art Ulixes,
I wil ask thy dog.I did not expect her to be
alive, said he. I made her the gruel of long life,
for I had seen the great love that thou didst bear
her. And what sort of a dog now is she? said
she. Two shining white sides has she, and a
light purple back and a jet-black belly, and a
greenish tail, said Ulixes. That is the description of the dog, said she; and, moreover, no man
in the place dared to give her food but myself and
thee and the steward.Let the dog be brought
in, said Ulixes. And four men got up for her, and
brought the dog into the house. And when she
heard the sound of Ulixes' voice, she gave a pull
at the chain, so that she sent the four men on
their back through the house behind her, and she
sprang the breast of Ulixes and licked his face and
his countenance. When the people of Ulixes saw
that, they sprang towards him. What man soever
could not reach his skin, would kiss his garment
with many kisses. And his wife did not go to
him. Thou art Ulixes, said she. I am, said
he. Many are the Mighty Folk, said she, and
I shall keep my singleness until thy form come to
thee.

He was a week there before she recognized
his form; and then they became one. I have
a little box, said Ulixes, which my good instructor gave me, and told me not to open it until
I should give it to thee. They opened it on the
spot. Ninety ounces-viz., what he had given for
the instruction-that was what was in it, and a cover
of gold on the top of it, to preserve their true
amount for him.

So this is the wandering of Ulixes the son of
Laertes, from beginning to end, so far.